Many small articles are sold in quantities much larger than are typically consumed or used at a single time. Typically, individual portions are dispensed from a large container and transferred to a serving vessel. There is a need for closure assemblies that can dispense limited amounts of such articles and can function as a receptacle to present those pre-portioned amounts of articles to consumers while simultaneously keeping the remaining articles within the container and out of reach to the consumers.
For example, it can be desirable to purchase small articles like food items, such as candy, in large quantities and dispense portions or fractions of the total quantity at any time. It can be desirable to limit the amount of food items exposed to the environment, dispensing only the quantity desired for immediate consumption while keeping the remainder stored in the container. Such a feature could preserve the freshness and security of the undispensed portion of items from air, moisture, insects, and vermin.
It can be desirable to limit the amount of food items made available to consumers at a given time, to discourage overindulgence by the consumers or to simply control the rate at which the food item is dispensed.
It can be desirable to store undispensed items in close proximity to a dispensing vessel, making the refill process faster and more convenient, while ensuring that the undispensed items are kept retained within the container. Attaching a refill container to a dispensing vessel can minimize the risk of inadvertently substituting the wrong item when attempting to refill the dispensing vessel.
It can be particularly convenient for a cap assembly to dispense portioned amounts of flowable materials from a container while leaving the remaining materials within the container where they are out of reach of consumers, and to provide a serving or display vessel for the dispensed materials. It is particularly desirable for such a cap assembly to be readily used multiple times to repeatedly replenish the serving vessel with previously-undispensed materials from the container.